Walker wins 2016 Ras De Cymru ...

U23 Charles Walker of the Halesowen Academy team is the winner of the 2016 Ras De Cymru. The event re-located to the Cyncoed Campus of Cardiff Metropolitan University this year, following the closure of its long-time HQ in Caerleon, and the move brought new courses to the race programme. Walker led the Sprint competition after the Stage 2 race near Chepstow but his victory on Stage 3 in the Vale of Glamorgan saw him swap green for yellow and make it a Ras De Cymru first ... leader on GC and in the Sprint and KOM competitions all at the same time; and his team headed the Team GC too! 5th place on Stage 5 on the Three Cocks circuit increased his GC lead from 2 secs to 8 secs; and further Sprint points consolidated his lead in the green jersey competition. 6th over the line on the legendary Tumble on the final stage was sufficient for him to secure the yellow jersey by 7 secs; he also headed the Sprint competition but the green jersey was awarded to second-placed Samuel Utting of Cardiff Ajax. Adding the maximum points available on the final stage to his tally saw Cwmcarn Paragon's Ryan Brain take the KOM jersey. And Halesowen Academy were the winning team.

Josh Burns is No. 1 ...

Wearing the race leader's jersey that he had claimed after victory on the penultimate stage, U23 Josh Burns, of the Cwmcarn Paragon team, crossed the line at the top of Llangynidr Mountain in 8th place to take the 2015 Ras De Cymru yellow jersey by just 2 seconds, by far the narrowest winning margin in the event's history. Stephen Bradbury (Three Red Squares) won the Sprint competition, taking maximum points in two of the three final stage primes, and Burns' team-mate Richard Harris had sufficient points to hold on to the KOM jersey.

Top spot for Zechmann in the 2014 Ras De Cymru ...

James Shaw stars for Haribo in the 2014 Cadence Junior Road Race ...

Vikings Victorious in 2013 ...

It was a Manx Viking Wheelers 1 - 2 overall as Darren Bell finished Stage 6 in 7th place adding a 1 minute advantage to the 30 seconds he had over team-mate Elliot Baxter going into the final stage. Bell retained the yellow jersey he had pulled on after Stage 2 and Baxter had sufficient an advantage to hold on to 2nd place as Ryan Bevis (Cwmcarn Paragon) overhauled Owen James (Wales Junior Team) by 1 second to take 3rd overall. In addition the strength of the Manx Viking Wheelers team saw them finish just under 5 minutes ahead of BC Central Region with Dynamic Bicycles RPC and 2012 winner Tony Kiss in 3rd. Kiss took victory in the KOM competition and, by virtue of his points on the final stage, Daniel Davies (Ystwyth CC/Continental/Summit) claimed the Sprint jersey. The prize for the most aggressive rider overall was awarded to Jonathan Shuster of BC Central Region.

Stage: a 4.2 mile rolling individual time trial with a hill finishStarters: 100
It was a flying start to the event for Welsh Junior Stephen Williams as he clocked a sub 11 minute time for the prologue time trial - despite being baulked by a lorry at the start. A tail wind up the climb to Llanhennock helped the first year Junior from Aberystwyth to what might be a new course record.Result:1st Stephen Williams (Wales Junior Team) 10.592nd Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) @ 8 secs3rd Felix Barker (Severn Road Club) @ 18 secsTeam GC:1st Manx Valley Wheelers 34.362nd Severn Road Club @ 6 secs3rd Wales Junior Team @ 8 secsSTAGE 1 | TEAM GC

Stage: 6 laps of a rolling / hilly circuit with a hill finishKOM primes: 3Sprint primes: 3
Starters: 100In contrast to the deluge of 2012 the riders were blessed with perfect conditions and were spurred into action from the off. Riders repeatedly clipped off the front of the peloton but these early forays came to nothing. The largest break came on lap 2 when a group of 12 riders put 15 seconds between themselves and the peloton but the most successful involved a lone break by Darren Bell (second on Stage 1) soon after this. The Manx Viking Wheeler pulled out a gap of 30 seconds on lap 3 but was reeled in by the start of lap 4. The defining move came almost immediately after this as Daniel Davies and Ras regulars Richard Harris and Tom Crouch attacked and established a lead of around 15 seconds on a chasing group of 6 riders including Bell and team-mate Elliot Baxter. The gap from the chasers to the bunch steadily increased but into lap 5 the leading trio was caught and it was a break of 9 riders that had pulled out a gap of 2 minutes on the bunch as the bell rang for the final lap. Still 2 minutes up on the peloton and with 3 kilometres remaining Bell made his final move and held off his breakaway companions on the climb to the finish to take the stage win and the race leader's jersey.Result:1st Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) 2.27.152nd Owen James (Wales Junior Team) @ 8 Secs3rd Ryan Bevis (Cwmcarn Paragon) @ 16 secsKOM1st Ryan Bevis (Cwmcarn Paragon) 122nd Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) 83rd David Griffiths (Dynamic Bicycles RPC) 6Sprint
1st Daniel Davies (Ystwyth CC/Continental/Summit) 102nd Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) 63rd James Phillips (Severn Road Club) 6GC1st Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) 2.38.222nd Owen James (Wales Junior Team) @ 54 secs3rd Elliot Baxter (Manx Viking Wheelers) @ 1.01Team GC1st Manx Viking Wheelers 8.00.092nd Welsh Junior Team @ 2.533rd Cwmcarn Paragon @ 2.57STAGE 2 | KOM | SPRINT | GC | TEAM GC

Stage: hilly place to place with a hill finishKOM primes: 3Sprint primes: 3
Starters: 92
There was an early flurry of activity at the front but this came to nothing as the peloton climbed away from Usk and split dramatically, leaving groups of riders chasing but failing to regain the bunch on the descent to Chepstow. There were further attacks off the front of the reduced peloton with Tom Crouch (Dynamic Bicycles RPC), Richard Harris (Cwmcarn Paragon) and Rupert Denny (Dream Cycling) once again particularly active but the gap was never more than 14 seconds and all had been reeled in by the time the race reached Mitcheltroy. But Dynamic Bicycles RPC and Dream Cycling were determined to try and get away and with Wolverhampton Wheelers and the yellow jersey for company a group of 7 had established a gap of 18 seconds as the race exited Raglan Roundabout. Thwarted attacks were the order of the day, however, and by the Hardwick Roundabout they were all back in the bunch. There was no let up in attacks as the race returned to Raglan with Jonathan Shuster (BC Central Region) trying his luck. Finally, however, on the climb to the finish at Gwehelog, it was Peter Medhurst (University of Exeter CC) and, 2nd on GC, Elliot Baxter (Manx Viking Wheelers) who had clipped off the front, with Baxter pulling away to take the win.Results:1st Elliot Baxter (Manx Viking Wheelers) 1.59.202nd Peter Medhurst (University of Exeter CC) @ 5 secs3rd Edward Palfreeman (Arbis Colbert Cycles) @ 21 secsKOM1st Tony Kiss (Dynamic Bicycles RPC) 122nd Ryan Bevis (Cwmcarn Paragon) 83rd Elliot Baxter (Manx Viking Wheelers) 6Sprint1st Robin Garry (Manx Viking Wheelers) 122nd Tony Kiss (Dynamic Bicycles RPC) 63rd Daniel Davies (Ystwyth CC/Continental/Summit) 4GC1st Darren Bell (Manx Viking Wheelers) 7.12.542nd Elliot Baxter (Manx Viking Wheelers) @ 31 secs3rd Owen James (Wales Junior Team) @ 2.09Team GC1st Manx Viking Wheelers 21.43.152nd BC Central Region @ 5.543rd Dynamic Bicycles RPC @ 6.01STAGE 5 | KOM | SPRINT | GC | TEAM GC